T-Boz Showing Up Offstage

Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip dropped February 1992.

I remember when TLC dropped their first album like it was yesterday. Like so many of us, I was an instant fan. The music, the energy, the unapologetic realness—they were everything. Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, especially, with her cool voice and even cooler style.

That’s why it meant so much to me when I learned that T-Boz used her voice during African American Bone Marrow Awareness Month to speak about the importance of adding more Black donors to the blood stem cell donor registry. She spoke powerfully from her own experience living with sickle cell disease—she knows what’s at stake and why it matters.

Rest in power, Left Eye.

And knowing we already lost her bandmate, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, made it land even deeper. We don’t get to keep all our icons. So to see T-Boz still here, still using her voice—not just for music but to help save lives—feels like a gift..

My family is in this fight too — my dad is waiting for his match, that one person who’s the only hope for a cure for his diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

And he’s just one of the many many patients who benefit from the fact that T-Boz didn’t stop at the music. And I’m so grateful to her for using her amazing voice not just for the music but also to help find cures for people like my dad,

The truth is, you don’t have to be famous to make an impact. Just sharing a post, a story, or a simple link can ripple out in ways you may never see. You might share something that reaches the one person who joins the registry—and ends up being someone’s match. Maybe even my dad’s.

So if this moves you, I hope you’ll share this post, share the registry link, or share my dad’s story. Every share is a lifeline.

👉🏽 https://linktr.ee/lou4life — This link has everything in one place: how to join the registry, ways to donate or fundraise, upcoming events, and other ways you can help.

We need each other.
We need you.